President Geingob has stressed the importance of reconciliation to maintaining peace. Dr Geingob particularly made reference to the late former President of South Africa, FW de Klerk's acknowledgement that apartheid was a crime against humanity. De Klerk died on Thursday this week. President Geingob referenced this as he dedicated UNESCO's 75th anniversary to its first African Director-General, Amadou Mbow. Mbow, who served from1974 to 1987 was instrumental in the SWAPO party being granted an observer status by UNESCO. The move by UNESCO to recognize SWAPO also led to the placing of Namibian students in secondary schools, colleges and universities around Africa to help exiled Namibians to lead the country. This was despite fierce resistance by the Apartheid South African regime and some western countries that viewed the liberation movement as a terrorist organization at the time.